Sunday, January 27, 2013

Healthy food is what everyone is in search of these days, many people think that they cannot prepare food for themselves because of lack of time or they are unaware of easy recipes or last but not the least they are lazy. So, many of them who are working rush for the fast food centers and load their stomach with lots of calories, I do not say that loading the body with the calories is bad but, I say that whenever you eat stay cautious about what you are eating and what it does to you. If , you could give a little time you can make these wonderful patties at home in no time and refrigerate them and use daily. I do not say that they are very healthy but I can definitely say that they are much healthier than the one you buy in the market and also when you make yourself you know what is there in the food that you eat and what it does to you.

Saturday, January 26, 2013

This morning I realized that I soaked only a little moong dal (Pesara pappu /Green gram) yesterday night. It didn't make enough batter for making dosa for two. I thought I might do upma on a side. But I am out of upma ravva too! the next alternative was to add rice flour, but excess addition of rice flour makes dosa's firm and very crispy, and they do not taste great! so my next alternative was to grind some quick oats and add that powder to the batter. This worked really well, I just loved it!!! from now I know what I should do, if I do not have enough batter to prepare pesarattu.

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Did you ever try making palak and soya chunks in palak-panner style? or wondering how it tastes, then here is the simple recipe. I was craving for palak panner curry today, but I am on a diet so I cannot have panner. When I thought of healthy replacement for panner, the only thing that came into my mind was soya chuks. I tried it and it was wonderful, I couldn't say that it compensated my thrust for panner, but it has got its own taste. Spongy soya chuncks when cooked in spinach curry has got it's own unique flavor that makes you mesmerize. I tried, tasted and tested on me and my hubby, we loved it I hope you like it too!

Method:
Wash and cook soya nuggets/chunks in a water till they are soft by adding a tbsp of salt. When they are done cooking take them out and allow them to cool and squeeze all the water out of it. Do not throw the water you can use the same water for making spinach paste.
Heat 1tbsp of oil in a pan and add onion and when they turn transparent add spinach and cook till it is tender and raw flavor is gone. If you wish your curry to retain green color cook it in an open pan, but this takes a while to cook and is not a healthy practice too. I cooked in a closed pan under medium flame. When the spinach is done, take it into a plate and allow it to cool. When the mixture gets cooled up add garlic and tamarind and grind it to a paste with the help of water (remember the water you stored after squeezing soya).
When the spinach paste is ready, heat 2tbsp of oil in a pan ad add mustard seeds, cumin seeds and when they start splattering add soya chunks and fry them under slow flame for 5min. Add spinach paste and cook till the mixture comes to a boil. The curry thickens as it cooks so add enough water in the beginning. Now add all spices red chili powder, cumin powder, coriander powder and garam masala and mix well. check for salt and adjust according to your taste. Cook this mixture till oil separates out fro the curry. The curry is ready to serve, enjoy this with roti, steamed rice, biryani or any combination that you like.

Tip: You can add lemon juice instead of tamarind and also you can add little somph (Fennel seeds) while you add cumin in the curry, if you like some sweetness or twist in the dish.

Friday, January 4, 2013

Mysore rasam is one of the exotic South Indian recipes that has a blissful zest and makes us very tempting to have it all time. This is winter time come let us enjoy this wonderful rasam with a hot steamed rice. For me rasam is the only blissful thing that could make me very appetizing to have rice during the winter time, otherwise I not a big fan of rice. For the first time I made this Mysore rasam powder on my own, I just can't resist my self from having this relish dish. It is really easy to make this rasam powder at home, I regret myself for not trying this before, always I used to make rasam with the store bought powder. Believe me it is more aromatic than store bought powder and you can taste the fresh taste of all spices on your first try.

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Tindora is most popular Indian vegetable, positively and negatively. Yes, some people like my dad love it a lot and people like me hate it a lot. This chutney makes the Tindora haters to love it and Tindora lovers will love it more.